7 September 2005 (RFE/RL) -- An explosion targeted a convoy today in the southern Iraqi city of Al-Basrah, damaging a vehicle and apparently killing at least two Westerners, believed to be private security guards.

Pictures taken at the scene in northern Al-Basrah showed a sports-utility vehicle on its roof with two bodies, wearing bulletproof jackets, nearby.

Iraqi police Captain Mushaq Talib said four people were killed in the blast and that it struck a British diplomatic convoy. But his account could not be independently confirmed.

British forces in the area and officials in London said that "no British forces or other multinational forces" were involved.

It was not immediately clear whether the explosion had been caused by a roadside bomb or a suicide car bomb.

(AP/dpa/AFP/Reuters)

For RFE/RL's full coverage of developments in Iraq, see "The New Iraq"